The majority voted in favour of a motion to read this bill for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become a law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bill and that they can now discuss it in more detail.

an approval process can be completed when an approval bilateral agreement is suspended, cancelled or ceases to apply to a particular action;

state and territory processes that meet the appropriate standards can be accredited for bilateral agreements;

a relevant bilateral agreement continues to apply to an accredited state or territory management arrangement or authorisation process despite minor amendments to the arrangement or authorisation process; and

proponents do not need to make referrals to the Commonwealth for actions that are covered by an approval bilateral agreement.(Find out more about the bill, including its explanatory memorandum, here.)

The majority voted against an amendment that would ensure that the federal government kept the power to make major environmental approvals rather than handing that power over to state governments. The amendment was introduced by Greens MP Adam Bandt.

This means that the majority of MPs disagreed with the amendment.

Debate in Parliament

Liberal MP Greg Huntsaid that the government rejects the amendment because "we support one-stop shops".

Labor MP Mark Butlersaid that the Labor Party supported the amendment because the national environment minister should always have the capacity to deal with matters of national environmental significance.

Background to the bill

The Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 was introduced in response to the Federal Court’s decision in Tarkine National Coalition Incorporated v Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities () FCA 694.(The Tarkine is an area in north west Tasmania. For more information on the case, see this case note. The case is available to read on AustLII.)

No

Yes

Not passed by a small majority

How
"voted very strongly against"
is worked out

The MP's votes count towards a weighted average where the most important votes get
50 points,
less important votes get
10 points,
and less important votes for which the MP was absent get
2 points.
In important votes the MP gets awarded the full
50 points
for voting the same as the policy,
0 points
for voting against the policy, and
25 points
for not voting. In less important votes, the MP gets
10 points
for voting with the policy,
0 points
for voting against, and
1
(out of 2)
if absent.

Then, the number gets converted to a simple english language phrase based on the range of values it's within.

No of votes

Points

Out of

Most important votes (50 points)

MP voted with policy

0

0

0

MP voted against policy

0

0

0

MP absent

0

0

0

Less important votes (10 points)

MP voted with policy

0

0

0

MP voted against policy

2

0

20

Less important absentees (2 points)

MP absent*

0

0

0

Total:

0

20

*Pressure of other work means MPs or
Senators are not always available to vote – it does not always
indicate they have abstained. Therefore, being absent on a less
important vote makes a disproportionatly small
difference.